Would it be better for Chinese speakers to use Pinyin to write?

It would be a disaster. In fact, the idea was floated in the 1920s by Chinese intellectuals, but did not stick.

One of the advantages of the written Chinese language is that it is understood by a diverse people that speak completely different spoken languages. This facilitation of communication across vast geography was primarily the reason why culture and economy flourished in China over thousands of years.

The biggest disadvantage to alphabet-based languages is the 1-to-1 mapping of sounds to meaning. It creates a lot of barriers between people and their communications.

Practically, if you want to know what Chinese looks like if it were just a pinyin character-less language, look at modern Korean. Hangul is Korean pinyin.The Korean lexicon is majority Chinese, and it can get very ambiguous. Their solution: use spaces between words and for important publications or documents, use Chinese characters...

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About Chinese not from China

Chinese not from China is an overseas Chinese educated on Chinese history, fluent in two Chinese languages, and raised in Chinese culture. Learn more about me.